Welcoming a Dying Child: Theology of Children in Response to Euthanasia (Student Essay) First Runner-Up
Robyn Boeré, PhD (c), University of Toronto
“And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
Death, which naturally meets every man, still appears unnatural every time. This is more true when we consider the death of a child. Illness and death, though always seemingly out of place in the human life, seems all the more out of place for a child and so we seek a response. In February 2014, Belgium became the first country in the world to extend euthanasia to persons of any age. Previously, in 2002, the Netherlands extended euthanasia rights to children aged 12 to 18, and though still technically illegal, the Groningen Protocol provides guidelines for actively ending the life of critically ill newborns. There have been outcries of both vehement dissent and enthusiastic support in response to this legislation. Hailed as a victory for compassion by some, I am concerned that moral confusion surrounding the role of children in society makes decision-making surrounding child euthanasia difficult. Gilbert Meilaender, in his primer on bioethics, explains, “[t]he argument for euthanasia rests chiefly on [suffering and autonomy], taken either singly or together.” But the current emphasis on autonomous individuals in bioethics leaves little room for a comprehensive moral theory that applies to children. In this paper, I will argue that neither autonomy nor suffering provide adequate justification for child euthanasia. I will further propose a child-centered approach to sick and dying children based on Joyce Ann Mercer’s theology of childhood. It is not my purpose to provide a firm conclusion as to whether child euthanasia could ever be appropriate, but to highlight certain areas that must be considered in a comprehensive moral theory on child euthanasia, and to bring a Christian perspective to the question. None of this project is meant to diminish the horror of an ill and dying child and the suffering experienced by both the children and their parents. But I hope to suggest a theological framework that does justice to the children who will never grow up.
“And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
Death, which naturally meets every man, still appears unnatural every time. This is more true when we consider the death of a child. Illness and death, though always seemingly out of place in the human life, seems all the more out of place for a child and so we seek a response. In February 2014, Belgium became the first country in the world to extend euthanasia to persons of any age. Previously, in 2002, the Netherlands extended euthanasia rights to children aged 12 to 18, and though still technically illegal, the Groningen Protocol provides guidelines for actively ending the life of critically ill newborns. There have been outcries of both vehement dissent and enthusiastic support in response to this legislation. Hailed as a victory for compassion by some, I am concerned that moral confusion surrounding the role of children in society makes decision-making surrounding child euthanasia difficult. Gilbert Meilaender, in his primer on bioethics, explains, “[t]he argument for euthanasia rests chiefly on [suffering and autonomy], taken either singly or together.” But the current emphasis on autonomous individuals in bioethics leaves little room for a comprehensive moral theory that applies to children. In this paper, I will argue that neither autonomy nor suffering provide adequate justification for child euthanasia. I will further propose a child-centered approach to sick and dying children based on Joyce Ann Mercer’s theology of childhood. It is not my purpose to provide a firm conclusion as to whether child euthanasia could ever be appropriate, but to highlight certain areas that must be considered in a comprehensive moral theory on child euthanasia, and to bring a Christian perspective to the question. None of this project is meant to diminish the horror of an ill and dying child and the suffering experienced by both the children and their parents. But I hope to suggest a theological framework that does justice to the children who will never grow up.